Complicated Situations
by Alseid
Summary: Severus Snape overhears Sirius Black and James Potter planning something in the library and decides to find out what exactly they're scheming.
1. In the Restricted Section

Severus turned seventeen on January 9th, right after the winter holiday ended. There were no presents, no cake, no friends to celebrate his coming of age, just a lonely, quiet satisfaction. His parents had not sent anything, nor did he expect them to. Whenever he did receive an owl from his mother, it was always a perfunctory, impersonal message which he returned in the same manner.

It was Saturday, so that meant he had the day to devote to his own personal studies. He ate a piece of toast in the Great Hall before quickly leaving for the library, doing his best to evade anyone who might see him retreating to his dark shadows of his haven. He made it inside the library, which was, as he expected, deserted. He nodded to Madame Pince, who glanced up at the youth, but exhibited no other outward signs of recognition as Severus walked straight to the restricted section and stepped over the rope that separated it from the entire library.

Familiar smells of the old books overwhelmed him, and he immediately felt more at ease in his surroundings. There was little to light the section, but Severus knew his way around the bookshelves that twisted into mazes in the darkness. He ran his long fingers across the spines of books he had read through in his years in Hogwarts, careful to skip the volumes who were prone to attacking potential readers. He walked through the labyrinth of shelves for a few minutes, making several twists and turns, before coming to a spot that he frequented almost weekly. He had reached the section where most of the advanced potions books were located.

"Lumos," he whispered, feeling that to speak out loud would break a sort of reverence he held for the books. A soft glow eminated from the wand, and Severus immediately began to scan the titles, looking for something that appealed to him. He found _Devastatingly Awful Concoctions_ by Merla Whitlin and pulled it off the shelf, turning it over in his hands several times before actually opening it to a random page, where a woman's eyes had been replaced by what looked to be some sort of insects. Unneccessary, Severus though, but creative. While admiring the life-like illustrations writhe around on the page, something caught his attention.

Two voices, whispering to each other rapidly. Severus moved quietly towards them, a curse at the tip of his tongue. As they came closer, he recognized who the voices belonged to- perhaps the people he would like least to meet at all- James Potter and Sirius Black.


	2. A Plan Discovered

"Are you sure about this?" Potter's voice asked, sounding unconvinced about something.

Black snorted arrogantly and slapped his friend on the back. "When have I not been sure of any prank I've _ever_ pulled, Prongs? This will be the most talked-about feat ever to be accomplished within the walls of Hogwarts. We'll be legends!"

"Mm. But will we still be students here? Not to crush your hopes of fame, but what good is becoming a legend if it means we're expelled?"

"We won't be expelled! I've got the entire plan worked out; no one will even know it was us that pulled it off." Slightly lowering his voice, he added, "I can always pin the blame of Snivellus, if the need arises."

Severus had to dig his fingernails deep into the spine of the book he was holding in order to prevent himself from hexing the the two idiot Gryffindors until they were a lovely shade of Slytherin green. He silently extinguished the light of his wand, and waited breathlessly as the voices and footsteps came closer.

"Madame Pince is out there," Black hissed at Potter. "Where's your invisibility cloak?"

"Right here, just a second."

There was a sound of fabric rustling, then quick footsteps, then silence. After Severus was completely sure that they had left, he put the book he had been browsing through back into its rightful place on the shelf, and left the restricted section as inconspicuously as he could manage.

Whatever it was that Black and Potter were planning, it was going to be nasty. Why else would they have been in the restricted section? The thought to expose their plot to the headmaster or another member of the staff occurred to Severus, but he pushed it away for the moment. If he told someone now, all Black and Potter would have to do would be to deny the claim. Instead, Severus made up his mind to wait until the plan the two Gryffindors had created was about to be set into motion, so their involvement could not be questioned when they were discovered.

Severus hoped they would be expelled.


End file.
